Over 200 unionized ADT Security by Telus workers, who are members of the United Steelworkers union (USW) Local 1944, are demanding a fair first contract by holding two public awareness actions in Calgary.
The USW’s “bat light” projected a clear message last Sunday and Monday night, displaying “Fair wages at ADT now” onto the Telus Spark Science Centre building and the Scotiabank Saddledome.
“ADT by Telus continues to experience success and win awards for customer service delivered by our members, yet when it comes to delivering fair wages, Telus prefers to pay its CEO and shareholders first instead of its hard-working and award-winning employees,” said Donna Hokiro, USW Local 1944 president.
“I am not convinced that Telus wants to agree to a first contract that reflects the value of the work our members do. Telus continues to present lowball offers to weaken the support of our members and force them to accept low wages – wages that do little to help them in these tough economic times. Our members are holding the line for better and that is why we are taking action across Calgary this week to get fair wages,” said Hokiro.
The USW has negotiated and moved on many non-monetary items and had made some progress on several items such as seniority and company service, the At Home Agent program and job notifications. There are many other monetary items, including wages, that the union and the employer remain significantly apart on.
“I strongly believe that we can secure a fair contract with good wages – but it’s really up to Telus and ADT to get back to the table to negotiate a decent first contract. I know Telus can do better and it can certainly afford to give its ADT Security workers better job security and wage increases,” said Hokiro.
The two parties started bargaining meetings in April 2022, following the Alberta Labour Relations Board’s certification of the worker’s vote to join the USW on January 4, 2022. The parties have jointly filed for mediation and will be meeting with the appointed mediator on August 29.
The USW represents 225,000 members in nearly every economic sector across Canada, including 6,800 members at Telus, and is the largest private-sector union in North America, with 850,000 members in Canada, the United States and the Caribbean.
Each year, thousands of workers choose to join the USW because of our strong track record in creating healthier, safer and more respectful workplaces and negotiating better working conditions and fairer compensation – including good wages, benefits and pensions.
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